Fated Love With the Billionaire
Chapter 206 Gathering Evidence

Chapter 206: Chapter 206 Gathering Evidence

After the locksmith arrived, he quickly opened the iron door. Chen Ningxi clearly noticed Fan Xia’s particularly nervous expression; nine times out of ten, the electricity theft device was right here.

Only upon entering did they realize that the two rooms were originally one; a cement wall had been built in between. One room was used as a power distribution room, equipped with facilities, and the other was filled with waste, leaving no place to step.

Chen Ningxi took out a flashlight and scanned the inside. It seemed there was nothing special, but when the flashlight fell at her feet, she spotted some freshly pressed muddy shoe prints. She squatted to examine them closely and noticed the faint red brick dust on the edges, identical to the dust raised by the brick-making machine.

She followed the direction of the footprints and saw a pile of clutter as tall as a person in the corner.

Liu Shaojun followed her inside. Chen Ningxi began to move the clutter piece by piece with Tian Quan’s help. She took pictures, and after Liu Shaojun moved a wooden shelf, an electricity theft controller appeared on the wall.

Liu Shaojun said, "Here it is, look, the electricity theft device."

Chen Ningxi approached, and Tian Quan passed the flashlight to illuminate for her. She photographed the theft device and found a yellow hidden wire coming from the wall seam.

This electricity theft device concealed a remote controller, allowing remote covert operation of the theft facility via a wire.

Chen Ningxi called the couple in and asked, "What is this device?"

Xiong Chengbin furrowed his brow without saying a word, while Fan Xia didn’t even glance at it. She looked away and whispered, "I don’t know."

Director Zhao Zhengyu came over for a look and finally understood the working principle of the electricity theft device with Liu Shaojun’s explanation.

He sternly asked, "We caught you red-handed. Do you have anything else to say?"

Xiong Chengbin hung his head, thought for a moment, then spoke, "We’re having a hard time too, high costs, low profits, we had to save a bit."

Chen Ningxi said, "Stealing electricity is illegal. To save money, you choose to break the law?"

Xiong Chengbin, realizing it was too late to say anything now, said, "I confess."

Chen Ningxi retorted, "You say it so lightly; do you know how much the penalty is?"

Xiong Chengbin asked, "How much?"

He assumed they couldn’t track the length of the theft, expecting only a fine for today, thinking maybe thirty to fifty thousand.

Chen Ningxi said, "Once the theft is verified, it will be back charged for the duration of the theft, and you’ll have to pay three times the owed electricity fee as a breach of contract fine."

The more Xiong Chengbin listened, the wider his eyes grew as he calculated internally. It was far more than a few tens of thousands.

"My machines were just used today."

Chen Ningxi said, "Whether or not they were just used today, we will investigate. Witnesses, evidence, and the brick factory’s dispatch records all make it easy to estimate the years of electricity theft."

Xiong Chengbin furrowed his brow and said, "The way you’re investigating leaves me no way out! Who are you anyway? Are you here to catch electricity thieves or to collect fines? Just say you want money, I’ll give it to you."

Having worked for years, she had encountered more than one slippery customer.

Chen Ningxi asked, "Are you admitting to stealing electricity now?"

Xiong Chengbin raised his head impatiently and said, "Sure, if you say so."

His unruly demeanor said, "Do what you want, I don’t care."

Fan Xia quickly stepped forward to pull Xiong Chengbin’s arm, "Stop being stubborn, what’s the point of arguing?"

"What do you know?" Xiong Chengbin said, "They could fine us into bankruptcy."

Fan Xia panicked at his words, not expecting things to escalate this way, and spoke to Chen Ningxi in a friendly manner.

"Sister, can’t we just pay today’s electricity bill and leave it at that?"

Chen Ningxi said, "Ma’am, breaking the law requires handling according to legal procedures; it’s not up to personal discretion."

"How much will the fine be?"

Chen Ningxi estimated, "According to Article 71 of the ’Electric Power Law,’ theft of electrical power requires the power management department to order a stop to illegal behavior, recoup electricity charges, and impose a fine of up to five times the due electricity fee. With your brick factory’s electricity use, the estimated theft value is 400,000 yuan, requiring an additional 1.6 million yuan fine."

"What? That much?" Fan Xia’s pitch went up eight octaves, "Who has that kind of money? We haven’t even earned that much. You’re really losing your conscience for a fine."

"Sister, we are all abiding by the..." Chen Ningxi began to explain, but Fan Xia cut her off, reaching out to grab her recording device to destroy the evidence, "I don’t want to hear you. You just fined us, and now you’re filming, who let you film?"

Inside the electricity theft room, it was dim, with debris piled on the floor. Chen Ningxi, thin and weak, was pulled down, falling backward.

"Hey, hey, hey —" To protect the evidence, Chen Ningxi held onto the recorder tightly, not letting go, as she landed heavily on a pile of clutter.

The scene turned chaotic. Liu Shaojun and Tian Quan rushed forward to pull Fan Xia away. Xiong Chengbin, seeing his wife in trouble, used brute force to shove Liu Shaojun, kicking Tian Quan to the ground. Both ended up on the floor. Simultaneously, Zhao Zhengyu hurried to control Xiong Chengbin, shouting, "Yanchuan—"

In the cramped space, Yu Yanchuan was by the door during the chaos. As the scuffle started, he struggled to squeeze in, finding Chen Ningxi pinned to the ground.

Chen Yanchuan, young and strong, pulled Fan Xia up forcefully, loudly stopping her, "What are you doing? Stand still, do you know the crime for violently resisting law enforcement?"

Fan Xia, short of breath, wiped her nose with the back of her hand and said with a sobbing tone, "The fine is so high, how can one live?"

Yu Yanchuan lifted Fan Xia off her, and Chen Ningxi, supporting herself on a wooden stub, struggled to stand, feeling something sticky in her hand but not thinking much of it.

Yu Yanchuan asked her, "Manager Chen, are you okay?"

Chen Ningxi shook her head, "I’m fine."

She first picked up the recorder from the ground, relieved to find it undamaged and that the evidence video was still intact.

"Let’s go out first." Zhao Zhengyu held onto Xiong Chengbin’s wrist, and Yu Yanchuan took Fan Xia outside.

Once everyone was in a brighter area, they found their clothes covered in dust prints, while blood dripped from Chen Ningxi’s arm in a steady trickle.

"Manager Chen," Tian Quan pointed at her hand, "You’re bleeding."

Only then did Chen Ningxi feel the stabbing pain, seeing a small laceration on her wrist, unsure of what she hit. She quickly pressed on the wound.

"Hurry, get her to a hospital," Zhao Zhengyu said.

Chen Ningxi was taken to the hospital to treat the wound. Though not deep, it looked frightening, and the doctor said stitches were needed. During the debridement, the dirt inside had to be removed, causing her to grit her teeth in pain but not making a sound. After treating the wound, she also received a tetanus shot.

She left Liu Shaojun and Tian Quan at the brick kiln factory for post-incident handling, where they delivered an on-site penalty notice, terminated the power supply, and confiscated the electricity theft equipment. Yu Yanchuan took Fan Xia to the police station to hold her accountable for her actions.

Upon returning home, Chen Ningxi changed clothes and discovered multiple bruises on her back, looking menacing, with a particularly severe bruise on her waist, likely from hitting a wooden stub, red to the point of turning purple.

Enduring the discomfort, she took a shower and lay on her stomach in pain. Just as she was about to turn over, a video call from Cheng Qiaobei came in.

Chen Ningxi quickly found a comfortable position, adjusted her expression, and accepted the call.

Seeing her, Cheng Qiaobei smiled and called, "Honey..."